Vitamin D therapy in psoriasis.

The use of vitamin D3 in the treatment of psoriasis is discussed with emphasis on positive and negative results of many clinical trials. Investigations indicate the treatment with topical vitamin D3 provides consistently more rapid clinical improvement than its oral counterpart, with no reported adverse effects. Studies have shown that 68 of 83 patients exhibited significant improvement of their psoriatic lesions with the topical application of vitamin D3 analogs, including 1,24-dihydroxycholecalciferol, calcitriol, and MC 903. Clinical trials involving 35 patients treated with oral vitamin D3 analogs resulted in moderate improvement in 24 of the patients. Adverse effects can be minimized by bedtime dosing and possibly the use of new noncalciotropic analogs. Vitamin D3 analogs appear to provide one more promising treatment option for psoriasis.